Returning to Loa’kai late in the day, some of them had gone into town to eat, while others decided that the small quantities of food they’d eaten from the sea were enough. That evening, back at Crimson Cove, they’d all fallen asleep on the sand. All except Gwyneth, who had vanished on the way to Kauai with Alicia. Everyone was worried about the missing teenager.Now it was the following morning, and Kimo was the first to awaken, at the break of dawn. Carefully, he moved Alicia’s arm, which had been draped over his chest, and rose to his feet.He waded into the warm, shallow water, splashed some on his face, and used it to slick back his hair, using his fingers for a comb. Then, while waves lapped gently against his ankles, he squinted in the direction of the sunrise that sparkled across the sea, and thought he saw something out on the surface of the water—a number of lumpy objects. Going back to the beach, he crossed the cinder sand and climbed a short distance up the trail toward Jiddy’s cave, then looked again.
